Dozens were rescued after a migrant boat capsized off western Puerto Rico on a day marked by a large search and rescue operation, the United States Coast Guard reported. At least eleven people were saved from the wreck, including eleven women and twenty men, reflecting a successful, though ongoing, effort to locate and assist others in distress as the agency coordinates with naval units and federal partners. The incident unfolded several nautical miles north of Desecheo Island, a known route for irregular departures from the Dominican Republic, prompting a multi-agency response that intensified as new information emerged from airborne and sea-based observers.
Officials described the scene as a mass-ritual of rescue activity that evolved over the afternoon into a full-scale operation. The vessel, believed to be smuggling passengers toward the west coast of Puerto Rico, capsized in the Mona Canal region, an area frequently utilized by boats attempting to evade interdiction. Operations continued into the evening as additional units joined, including aircraft from Customs and Border Protection and patrol crews from the Coast Guard, all coordinating with local marine units to manage the search grid. The Coast Guard had previously indicated that a significant number of people remained unaccounted for, prompting authorities to widen the search and deploy response resources across the waterway.
Recent communications indicated that around 11:47 p.m. local time, observers aboard a CBP aircraft reported seeing an overturned vessel with people who appeared to be unharmed in the immediate vicinity. In response, helicopters from Borinquen Air Base and Coast Guard air assets were dispatched to the area, while rapid-action marine units from western municipalities supported the mission. The coordinated effort involved personnel from multiple agencies who continue to map debris fields, monitor liferafts, and locate survivors, guarding against hypothermia and exhaustion as night temperatures drop. The ongoing operation underscores the challenging conditions of maritime interdiction work and the critical role of joint agency cooperation in life-saving missions.
The Mona Canal, a strait that separates Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic, remains a busy corridor for migration and enforcement. Today’s actions included returning forty-four Dominicans to a Dominican Navy vessel after two interdictions in the canal, a reminder of the ongoing pattern of maritime interdictions in the region. The broader context includes prior rescues and recoveries: recent days have seen multiple operations yielding dozens of survivors and, on at least one occasion, the recovery of a deceased individual from a sunken craft. As crews continue to survey the area, authorities reaffirm their commitment to rescue and safety, while ensuring that all procedures comply with international and local regulations governing search and rescue missions and the handling of individuals encountered at sea.